FINE i guess i'll talk about some of the new toys i've gotten in the past few weeks

Here's the SDCC-exclusive Combiner Hunters three-pack, which I'll showcase 'cuz the remainder of the stock goes up some time today on HasbroToyShop.com. (OH HEY! HERE IT IS!) It comes with redecoes of the three Deluxe Class female Transformers we got last year: Arcee,Windblade, and Chromia, plus a bunch of additional huge-ass weapons and one small bit of retooling.

The retooling is Arcee's hands, which go from slot-holding hands to the usual 5mm peghole hands. She still comes with her swords, and since the slots are 5mm across, she can still hold her swords. She doesn't come with either of her original guns, which means technically you can't really complete her transformation. Her hands grasp either end of her smaller rifle in car mode, and without that rifle, the arms kind of just fold underneath and don't secure. I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world, and it's not like they're visible in car mode, but it still bothers me a little. She comes with a giant toothed cleaver that originally came with the super-large Beast Hunters Optimus Prime toy from a year or so back. She doesn't hold the cleaver super well, what with it being twice her size, but you can still get her into some poses, and a huge-ass cleaver is still fuckin' rad. Her new colors, a dark charcoal with some pink and silver trim, make her the most attractive toy of the set. Plus, you know, Autobot symbol tattoo on her cheek. Booyah.

Windblade and Chromia have fewer changes to them, with no weapon absences or retooling, and their colors kind of feel a little more shuffled-around rather than changed. Chromia is improved, I think, with the facepaint around her eyes, which makes her look pretty fierce and a little terrifying. Which fits Chromia well, hmm? She's still blue and gray, though now she's more gray than blue, while Windblade is now mostly red rather than only a little red. They both come with weapons from those 12-inch "Titan Heroes" figures that collectors hate but kids snatch up like crack. You know, the nontransformable five points of articulation guys? Windblade's weapon is the "Decepticon Hunter" from the Robots in Disguise cartoon, while Chromia's sword is Bumblebee's sword version of the Decepticon Hunter from the same cartoon. But, you know, packed with a Deluxe Class toy, they're huge.

A purchase of either this Combiner Hunters set or the SDCC-exclusive Devastator at Comic-Con got you a bonus Combiner Hunters one-shot comic. That comic's being released to comic book stores on Wednesdays! I read that comic like thirty times at my booth, and so I'm very glad it was a good comic. (It introduces Victorion, the fan-voted lady combiner.)

If you like transforming robot ladies in facepaint and tattoos wielding weapons larger than themselves which they use to cut down giant Transformer combiners, then this set is probably up your alley.